As it is well known to players and teachers of the game of tennis, there are many different strokes that are required to be mastered if a player is to progress in his proficiency in the game. The game can essentially be broken down into three major types of strokes used to impact a tennis ball. The first type of stroke is the forehand and backhand groundstrokes that a player uses while hitting a ball from the baseline of the tennis court. These are essentially long fluid swings of the racquet to send the ball back to the opposing side of the court. Because the tennis player is positioned in the back of the court, he has ample reaction time to produce a long fluid stroke. The second type of stroke is the overhead serve that a player uses to initiate a point. It is also a long fluid stroke that takes place over the shoulder of the player. The reason for the long fluid stroke is that because the player is initiating the point, he has plenty of time to decide when to contact the ball and thus wants to create as much power as possible thus using a longer stroke. The third type of stroke is known as the volley which a tennis player uses when he is near the middle of the full length of the court close to the net. All proficient teachers and players of the game of tennis would describe this as a short more punch-like stroke as a result of the little time afforded to prepare for the ball's arrival as well as the fact that little power is needed to return the ball to the opponents court which is only a few feet away. It is with this particular stroke that this invention is aimed at developing.
Various techniques have been tried over the years to provide players with help in practicing tennis swings though this is the first that is actually specifically focused on developing the volley swing. One type of such device comprises a practice ball, tethered to a support assembly separate from the racket. Examples of such apparatus are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,270,957 granted Jan. 27, 1942, to S. W. Mirrs, and U.S. Pat. No. 1,862,044, granted Jun. 7, 1932, to T. M. Flight. While the invention does provide for the imminent return of the ball, it does create a low return trajectory that a player must stoop to intercept, which is quite unlike the volley position in which a ball is struck usually from waist to shoulder height. Also, the long amount of time required for the ball to return as a result of the long elastic tether does not create an environment is which the tennis player is forced to use a short punching swing necessary to effect a correct volley stroke.
Also of interest is the type of tennis practice device which has a tethered ball attached to a the handle portion of the tennis racquet such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,709,490, granted Jan. 9, 1973, to Gunther Pruss. The disadvantage of attaching the tether to the handle portion of the tennis racquet is that the ball may tend to return toward the handle portion of the racquet. The swivel bearing clip connecting the tether to the racquet also affects the weight of the racket and with today's more modern open throated racquets is no longer an applicable connection device.
A similar invention is the tennis device depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 2,110,084 granted Mar. 1, 1938, to R. Heimers. This system has an elastic tether which is wrapped around an upper and lower roller assembly and has a projectable ball attached at it's outward end. This device is bulky and weighty and significantly changes the balance of the tennis racket. Like the above practice device, there will be a tendency for the ball to return to the outward end of the racket rather than the center of the string bed.
Of particular interest is the type of tennis device shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,071,239, granted Jan. 31, 1978, to T. Ferguson. This system has an elastic tether which connects a flexural arcuate anchor attached to the string bed to a cross member which secures a conventional ball to the tether. The anchor is somewhat bulky and alters the rebound energies of the string bed when struck by the ball because of its position flush to the strings. This disables the tennis player from the ability to get a correct `feel` when striking the ball in the center of the racquet. In addition, it is time consuming to thread the elastic tether through a rectangular opening in the string bed, attach it to the flexural anchor, attach the anchor to the string bed, and then to attach the elastic cross fastener at the end of the elastic tether to the ball.
It will be appreciated from the foregoing that there is still a definite need to provide a simple and inexpensive teaching tool that is simple, inexpensive, unobtrusive, light in weight, and easily attachable to the racquet, to create a conducive environment is which a volley stroke can be practiced in conditions similar to that experienced in a conventional game.